Lady in sunglasses

She was standing on the shore
wearing big sun glasses
and a headscarf, chicly wrapped
she looked a little sad
or maybe trying to remember
something she'd once had
by coming back
to where she'd known it last?

She stumbled a little in unsuitable shoes
her face twisted rueful at forgetting
how slippery the pebbles are here
by the glittering blue
under the swoop of sky

as I walked with you
on the pavement above
arguing about nothing, getting stressed
I caught her eye

you asked me why
I kept turning back
she'd caught my mind
was looking at me too
wistful, as if sh'd found
the lost thing
the past

and it seems if I let you go
I would be her when I was old
alone on the beach, unsure
where my life had gone
and I hold your hand tighter
as we walk into the brightness
of dreams we WILL reach

I looked back: she was smiling
then, not there, anymore